


The Reawakening of Rose

by corrinefluffy



Series: Guardians of Alternia [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, F/M, Gen, God Tier Powers, Humans living on Alternia, Humans using troll terminology, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Trolls only mentioned in passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:31:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1212778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corrinefluffy/pseuds/corrinefluffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sweeps have passed and it's finally time for Rose to reawaken after losing herself to the darkness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reawakening of Rose

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little snippet of a new verse I'm working on; it's meant to be short with only a hint of the universe it's set in. I do apologize if it reads more of a...narrative than a story.

“…n. Elt;/p>

The echoing whisper didn’t quite reach his ears and John discarded it as nothing more than one of the mortals managing to reach him with their soul’s cries. He continued to twist the air and light to his whims, breathing in deeply with the beat to the raucous music the two elements created when whipped together.

The sounds had become second nature to him after he had taken over for Rose almost 200 sweeps ago when her darkness had taken over her body and rendered her catatonic. It had taken him nearly 50 sweeps to get a good grasp on her powers, the ability to bring light and dark to the world of Alternia, without losing his own power over the air and atmosphere of the planet. He could still recall when the trolls had scrambled to get a fix on the new daylight pattern, and how his light’s rays were hot enough to scorch and kill.

He had managed to set the rising of the sun and moons to fixed times so that Alternia’s inhabitants weren’t expiring faster than the Mother Grub could produce grubs but there was nothing he could do to return the light to its previous luster, forcing the trolls to adapt to a more nocturnal state to survive.

“…hn. Elt;/p>

He disregarded the cry once more, a slight frown creasing his face as he made a fist and blew into it, sending a tight whirlwind into the ocean to collect the mass of lusii carcasses left to rot, drawing them into a ball. Normally he wouldn’t leave such filth in the waters but he could sense a monstrous lusus resting in the depths of the ocean that would feast on the flesh and cleanse the waters.

Whatever was left behind Dave would collect from a vent in the earth and suck into the planet’s core, allowing lava or some other substance to devour it. There was little else left for them to do as the appointed Guardians of Alternia; Dave’s mysterious skills helped him defend the timeline from anything that might threaten the planet from either the past or the future; Jade, when she wasn’t resting in the cosmos, aided the planet in keeping on its course throughout the universe away from other universes and comets and prevented its destruction from outside forces. When Rose became healthy once more she would return to keeping Alternia’s sun and moon cycle, hopefully righting them to what they were before she fell ill. John’s primary power rested with the air and weather of Alternia, regulating the atmosphere to sustain life on the planet and ensure wildlife could continue to grow.

“…om…n. Elt;/p>

The First Guardian, an odd white dog creature whose power transcended all of theirs and yet was so secretive none of them knew exactly what that power was, told them at their creation that the four of them had secondary abilities that were supposed to be on par with the First Guardian’s.

They were also told that, as Guardians themselves, there were drawbacks to their powers. John and Jade, who had been created as two halves of one whole, could never exist on the same plane or else their powers would try to fuse and result in the destruction of Alternia and its moons, resulting in Jade’s existence in the space around Alternia and John’s in the very air on the planet.

Rose and Dave were created as two souls opposite one another who had the same problem, although their powers, which influenced time rather than place, would destroy the main timeline and any alternate versions that might try to create itself to survive, forcing Dave into the core of Alternia and Rose into the rays of the sun and shadows of the moons.

Rose had disregarded the warnings all those sweeps ago and attempted to meet with Dave, succeeding in a brief glance before the two powers housed within her fragile body had rebelled, attacking one another in an effort for dominance before they would attack Dave to devour his power. He had ejected her from the core just as the darkness took over, silencing her light and tainting Rose.

John could still recall the days without sunlight that had resulted from her mistake, how the sun had been eaten by a creature so revolting that his brain hadn’t been able to process what his eyes had seen. Jade had attempted to create another sun but she wasn’t strong enough to form a star from nothing while half of her attention and energy was devoted to Alternia.

He wasn’t sure how many sweeps had passed in that eternal darkness as they all struggled, weakened without Rose in control of herself, her tainted body trying to devour their powers as well. But eventually the First Guardian had contacted the three of them still in control and informed them of a plan to set the universe back on its proper course.  
Jade and Dave were given permission to meet with one another, as their powers could work in tandem without trying to fuse. Jade was tasked with borrowing power and energy from Dave to create a new sun with a piece of the First Guardian and, when that was finished, Dave was given the task to borrow her energy to create a doomed timeline and trap the monstrous creature that had eaten their sun in that timeline and seal it off.

John, it claimed, was asked to do a nigh impossible job. As the one with the simplest powers yet ones that were limitless in their own right and someone who had worked side by side with Rose for hundreds of sweeps, he was asked to eat what was left of her powers from her body. The First Guardian claimed that John was the best candidate for a job as he had a better understanding of her abilities, but taking in the foreign energies had a high probability of destroying him if he wasn’t prepared to fight against the tainted darkness and diminished light.

He had accepted on principle, without giving much thought to the prospect of dying. He had been sure the First Guardian would find some way to fix the mess if he did die. While Jade and Dave worked to create a star big and bright enough to sustain their universe he overused his powers to the point of exhaustion again and again, building the strength in his body to house not one but three Guardian powers. When Jade had placed the new sun at the center of the universe after Dave had banished the tainted sun John was summoned to Rose’s origin point and bade to swallow the remains of Rose’s power, a tiny golden orb interspaced with black.

His air had nearly been overwhelmed by the new powers before he had managed to surface and bottle up the two deep within himself, where he had worked endlessly to eat the taint and combine the light and dark halves to something more malleable. While he worked Alternia suffered through too-short nights and too-long days as Jade manipulated the planet to revolve around the tiny sun for its light.

Eventually he had managed enough control, although his body had been irrevocably changed and the death toll on Alternia had risen exponentially. Dave had been forbidden to enter the time stream to correct the deaths but had been allowed to work with Jade once more to pour their combined power into the Mother Grub to produce almost double the amount of grubs to replace those that had been lost until John could fix the cycles and prevent so many deaths.

Things were almost normal now and he hardly had to think about it when he worked the winds or shortened the daylight.

“John! Elt;/p>

He started, losing his grip on a small cyclone as he twisted in the air at the voice he hadn’t heard in sweeps. His best friend was standing on the ground below him, her white-blonde hair framing her pale face and violet eyes. The young girl was bare except for a black robe that was tied at her waist and he couldn’t be sure but she seemed a few inches shorter than he remembered as he floated down so his feet touched the earth, but it was definitely Rose standing there, the slightest of smiles directed at him.

“Rose! You’re awake! When did that happen? E The words escaped in a rush as he leapt forward and wrapped his arms around her, startled at how thin and frail she seemed in his embrace. He pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulders, shocked to see that his hands spanned the whole of her shoulders and collarbone. “You look like you’re on the verge of death. Elt;/p>

“John, you look…different. Older. E Rose’s voice was as he remembered, a quiet tone with pronounced enunciation that soothed his eardrums. But she sounded as shocked as he felt which was odd because Rose usually voiced two emotions: amusement and satire.

“Hold on, Rose. We should go see the First Guardian. Here, wrap your arms around my waist. E He waited until she had done so and lifted them off the ground, his hands at her hips to steady her against him as he called to the air around them.

He felt the first tugs in his marrow and whispered a warning to Rose as his body began to rip apart, slipping into the streams that made up the atmosphere. Rose almost panicked as he disappeared; he felt her take a deep breath and calm herself before she followed him and he made sure his streams enveloped hers and carried her off to his origin point, the bright blue bed transporting them to the chamber that housed the First Guardian.

Once they were within the twisting streams of tingling energy he forced his body back together, what had once been a difficult task but now required nothing more than a complete image in his mind. He ensured Rose’s body was once again in his arms so that the air reassembled her body as well.

There was no sound but he knew their creator was with them and waiting for their attention. They turned as one to the white creature seated on the steps, its eye sockets trained on them. He wasn’t sure what message Rose was given but he understood what the First Guardian wanted of him so he turned and held out his hands, waiting patiently for Rose to finish conversing with it and turn to place her hands in his.

“You never told me what happened, EHe mused as he gripped her fingers, continuously stunned at the fragility of her bones in his grip. He could so easily crush her and he had to consciously temper his strength around her.

“I don’t know, John. For so long I was stuck in a dark well, tormented by discordant noise and terrible voices. And then one day they were gone; they just disappeared and I was able to rise to the surface and wake. I have no notion of what they were or if they’re truly gone but the First Guardian claims the taint is no more. E She was still staring at him as if she was having trouble accepting his appearance. “What happened to you, John? We don’t age and yet you’re…you’re an adult, when we have always looked like pink-skinned trolls just matured from wigglers. Elt;/p>

He shrugged, unsure of how to answer her question. “I really don’t know, Rose. I haven’t looked at myself in a long time but I don’t feel any different. Anyway, are you ready to become a Guardian again? I’m sure you don’t like not having your powers and once you’ve got them back we can go back to normal and talk more about this. Elt;/p>

“I don’t think we can ever return to what once was, EShe murmured but she appeared to accept his words for she gave him the slightest of nods, her bangs falling into her shuttered eyes.

“Okay. This might look a little disgusting; please don’t puke, okay? But this is the only way to retrieve your powers. Elt;/p>

“Of course, John. Elt;/p>

He gave a nod of his own and closed his eyes, bowing his head and calling to the wind once more. This was more difficult than turning his body into air for it demanded he part with only some skin and muscle in the center of his chest rather than his whole body, and he had no practice with doing this. But he finally managed to create a hole in his chest that revealed his core, and was presented with the problem of separating Rose’s powers from his own.

Throughout the sweeps the trio had merged together into a ball of power, air that swirled over light enveloping dark. First he sucked up all of his original power and held it away from his core, a painful thing as it almost made him lose control of the pieces of his body still floating around in the air. Next he picked at the strings still connecting him to his borrowed powers, but some refused to separate and he was forced to form a thin blade with the air and slice at the strings, immediately ejecting the ball from his core and swallowing his own once more as he felt his heart stutter and almost stop.

He struggled for long moments to expand his power to fill the hole left behind as he rejoined his body, nearly disintegrating several times as his brain automatically floundered to grasp onto powers that were no longer connected to him. He felt light, loose, as if he were made of nothing and close to melting into the atmosphere with no way of returning. Harsh gasping brought him back, reminding him that he wasn’t alone and that he had to reassert himself as the primary Guardian of Alternia and help his friend.

John opened his eyes and had to blink rapidly against the flare surrounding Rose’s body. He could see that she had swallowed her powers once more-he could literally see that ball in her core-but she wasn’t assimilating to her powers like she once would have been able to. She was fighting them as she used to, thinking they were separate powers that needed to be dominated with a strong hand. He stepped into the scorching aura around her and gripped her hands once more, releasing their hold from her chest and giving her something easier to hold onto.

“Rose. Rose, listen to me. You can’t fight them like that. Listen! E He shook her when it was apparent she wasn’t hearing him, stopping only when both her eyes and her mouth popped open. “I carried those powers for a long time, Rose, and I turned them into something different, I know that. But you need to realize it now! They aren’t the same and you can’t handle them the same way. You need to, to just…grasp them. Put your hands over them and let them get used to you. They won’t turn against you anymore, okay? Just relax. Elt;/p>

He felt it when she absorbed the powers into her core; the pressure in the room dropped to where it was supposed to be and her skin suddenly flared hot underneath his fingers. He dropped his hands and stepped back when a shock of light briefly enveloped her body, disappearing in seconds to reveal a changed Rose.

Her hair was a few inches longer with a small curl to the ends and her eyes were darker, the shade not quite the same as before. Whereas before she had been pale as a ghost she now had a healthy golden glow to her, but John wasn’t sure if that was her skin tone or the radiance of her power shining through her body. She now wore an orange garment, a type of robe that was slit up the hips on both sides and decorated with a depiction of their new sun between her breasts and thick stripes on each hip that curled upward. A hood of darker orange than her clothing resting over her shoulders, its tail not quite meeting her waist. She had some type of leggings underneath the robe in the same colour, and slippers on her feet with strings that wrapped all the way up to her mid-calf in the colour of his own clothing.

He couldn’t help but think that she was beautiful, even with her black lipstick and mascara. She was now just a few inches shorter than him rather than over a foot smaller, and she appeared to have matured at least a few years; he wondered if the same thing had happened to him as he recalled her previous surprise at his appearance.

Rose studied her hands for a moment before turning her gaze to his, her lips pulling down in a frown. “John, what did you do to my powers? E Her voice was incredulous and he had to laugh in reply.

“I didn’t do anything, Rose, except what I told you! I just helped them work together. It wasn’t easy but it needed to be done. E He reached forward and took her hand, noting it fit much better in his grip now; he no longer felt as if he were a parent holding a child’s hand.

“No, you did something else, John. They feel…heavier inside me. Before, it was hard to breathe, like they were crushing me from the inside. It’s almost as if they had to transform my body to fit them, rather than the other way around. Elt;/p>

“You ascended. Elt;/p>

John and Rose turned around to face the First Guardian, or rather the thing floating next to it that was emitting the strangest symbols that sounded in monotone to their ears. He wasn’t sure what it was other than a flashing ball but it gave him a weird feeling and he didn’t want to be in the same room as it for very long.

“What do you mean, we ascended? E Rose questioned in a tone that implied she was feeling a bit annoyed with the lack of information.

“The primary Guardian ascended to a higher tier of power when he exceeded the parameters of his creation by mastering not only his abilities but the dual powers of another Guardian. His ascension influenced his own energies as well as your own, which dwelled within him at the time of his ascension. You had no chance to exceed your own parameters and ascend naturally; however your inferior body would have been consumed by your own powers if they had not forced you into a partial ascension to accommodate them. As you overcome your own obstacles you will complete the ascension and become a primary Guardian as well. As time continues your fellow Guardians will also be given opportunities to ascend. Elt;/p>

“Oh, sorry Rose, I didn’t know that happened. E John scratched the back of his neck as remorse momentarily filled him, overshadowed by new questions that arose at the First Guardian’s information. “Wait, why would I need to ascend anyway? I thought we were just supposed to be Guardians that protected Alternia. You’ve never mentioned ‘primary Guardians Eor ascension before. Elt;/p>

“The light Guardian started Alternia on a course to events that will require you Guardians to be stronger than you are now. The new ruler is one who desires power and conquest above all else. Her quest will draw the eye of other universes, some older than this one who have grown strong in their time. Your ascension brings with it new abilities that you will discover in time, ones that will prevent this universe from being taken over by other beings. Elt;/p>

“Can’t we change it? Have Dave go back and stop himself from meeting me? E Rose spoke up, her hands twisted in the fabric of her robe as a headache started in her temples. It felt as if something was pressing against her skull, trying to gain her attention but she couldn’t focus enough to figure out what it was.

“No. As I explained to the primary Guardian, your powers have no effect on other Guardians. If the Time Guardian were to enter the time stream all he would do is create other timelines that would need to be destroyed before we become just another alternate timeline. But perhaps you have learned to leave your other half alone. Just as the Space and Air Guardians cannot meet, so too are the Time and Light Guardians unable to meet. Elt;/p>

“I know now, and I apologize. If I could go back- Elt;/p>

“You cannot, nor can he. Accept what you have done and learn from it, and move on. Return to your duties and keep to your areas. Elt;/p>

John suddenly found himself in the air above the ocean with Rose at his side, her skin glowing in the fading light. A glance down revealed that he emitted a glow as well, though it was muted and made him appear translucent rather than radiant. He still gripped Rose’s hand and gently squeezed it to remind her he was still with her and he forgave her for her mistake.

“Thank you, John. E She pressed her cheek to his shoulder for a second, seeming to draw strength from his presence. “Have I doomed us? E She suddenly asked, keeping her tone light and bare of any tremble that wanted to show.

He thought about it as he studied the peaking waves on the water. A slight push of his mind and a tsunami started, dwindling before it hit the shore. “I don’t think so. I’m sure Dave would let us know if we were approaching a doomed end. Besides, I know what the First Guardian said but I don’t think that taint came from you and Dave meeting. Sure, that started something that allowed your darkness to take over but…hm. When I took your powers that taint felt like it had always been there, like it belonged there. It didn’t feel, well, alien to me. I think it was always here, it just needed a way to grow stronger. Elt;/p>

“I never felt anything like that, John. It was so ugly inside me, eating away at my soul. E She pulled her hood up so it covered her eyes as she spoke, hiding herself away from him and everything else as she revealed her secrets. “It found our sun through me and devoured it, like a piece of roasted grub. It planned on eating everything in our universe before moving on to the next one. How did you stop it? How did you take on such a creature? Elt;/p>

John shrugged, careful not to dislodge her purchase on his shoulder. “It wanted to eat me so I ate it instead. I stripped it from the dark with the help of my power and swallowed it; I don’t know how it disappeared from my body but it did. As for the part that took out the sun? Jade and Dave took care of it. Did you know the two of them can siphon each other’s Epowers? Dave borrowed some of hers to create a special time space where he put that monster and somehow displaced that, so that it disappeared, like it had never been created. And Jade took some of his to make a new sun. It’s not fully mature yet but it does what we need to keep our planet alive. Elt;/p>

“That is certainly interesting, John. But you’re sure your body is free of the taint? Elt;/p>

“You can look for yourself. You’ve got the light in full power, after all. E He spread his arms and waited for her to raise her eyes from underneath her hood. She did and those piercing not-violet eyes scanned him from head to toe, shining bright lavender for a moment as a current of energy went through him. He broke out in goose bumps as her eyes returned to their new colour.

“You’re right. Your body is different from before; it’s structured differently than I recall. Elt;/p>

“Well, that could be because I’ve deconstructed my body many times in the past. You did it with me before, remember? Maybe I didn’t put it back together right. That’s hard to do, you know? E He shrugged again; he wasn’t terribly worried about it because he felt the same, if a bit too light and loose in his skin but he was also sure that came from losing a portion of the energy that made up his core.

“John, I…no, you’re right. Perhaps I’m simply worrying too much. This is very new to me. Did you somehow work with my light so that it would automatically connect to the sun and transition to night on its own? E Rose studied the sky where she could feel phantom fingers beckoning the sun to sink even as something else worked the planet in a rotation so that those same rays shined on another part of the planet.

She had never worked so closely with Jade before, where the hot strings of her power brushed against the icy wires of Jade’s. The sensation gave her chills but it wasn’t a painful feeling, merely different, as becoming part of the air had been. She could also feel the puzzlement and startled happiness that caressed her power, the first time she and Jade had ever truly ‘conversed Evia energy. It was pleasant and she vowed to explore it some more in the future when she wasn’t so distracted since Space and Light had no desire to merge together.

“Rose? Are you okay? Elt;/p>

John’s concerned voice broke through her thoughts and she released an airy sigh. “I’m sorry, John. For everything. You know that Alternia hasn’t changed in all the time I’ve been sleeping? Those murky waters, the dense earth, the hideous beasts that roam wild…Nothing has changed in all that time. Elt;/p>

“Well, something changed; the length of days and how many are in a sweep. In the beginning I had no control over your powers. A lot of trolls died during those sweeps; too many of them. We couldn’t change that but Dave and Jade were able to help the Mother Grub replace some of what we lost. Elt;/p>

“How? A Mother Grub produces an average of 160 grubs every three sweeps. Even jade bloods can’t influence the amount of eggs it’ll hatch. Elt;/p>

“I don’t know the exact details but it involves Jade’s powers. I think it probably ties into her ascension powers…then again maybe not, because what good will it do the universe if she ascends and all she can do is produce defenseless grubs? Anyway, Dave temporarily jump-started her powers and she somehow accelerated the growth of the slurry, more than doubling it. They made it so the Mother Grub produced about…oh, probably 500 grubs every sweep for seven sweeps. It wasn’t enough to cover how many I killed but Alternia won’t suffer extinction in the near future. Elt;/p>

“That’s…astounding. E Rose whispered as the enormity of the combined strength of two Guardians reached her. She and John had never done something so large when they were together; at the most she had been able to catch snippets of the future but they had been too infrequent to be of any use to her. It made her feel slightly inferior to her companions, even with her half-ascended state, and a flash of ire swept through her before she squashed it. “They have such a strong ability? E She could only hope her voice didn’t betray the envy that wouldn’t quite go away.

“Not really. I mean, Dave was almost catatonic by the time I read we were safe from extinction. Elt;/p>

That statement caught her attention and she couldn’t stop herself from interrupting him. “Wait, what do you mean you ‘read Ewe were safe? Elt;/p>

John rolled his shoulders in a dismissive shrug, his lips pulling up in a sheepish smile as he glanced sidelong at her. “I don’t know. Now I think I must have tapped into your power and studied the paths of the future until the most fortuitous came to me. I mean, it took six sweeps before I could tell Jade and Dave they had one more to go before Alternia was out of the danger zone and they could rest but we did it. Elt;/p>

“Astounding, EShe repeated. She had never caught a full vision of the future before with John’s help, yet he had managed to follow a path through to its end judging by his certainty, and he had done it alone. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had carried her powers within him and bonded with them, or perhaps it was another obstacle he had needed to overcome in order to ascend. “I think…I think it best that I return to my origin point and rest in order to assimilate with my powers once more, John. This has been an eventful day and I’ve enjoyed the information you’ve given me but it’s all a bit much to take in at once. Elt;/p>

“Oh, of course! I need to get used to myself as well; I feel all weird and floaty. Maybe your powers really were heavy? Anyway, I’m so glad you’re back, Rose! And I know Dave and Jade are just as happy, even if you can’t meet with them. E He stepped forward and enfolded her in his arms once more, noting with a detached sort of amusement that while she was still slender and willowy she fit better in his arms.

“I am glad to be back, John. However, forgive me for saying that I hope we don’t get so close in the near future. E She copied his chuckle as she pulled away, a chord within her humming at the nearness to John. She stifled the feeling and stretched her fingers into the light, recalling how John had called to his element and how his very core had responded to it.

As John disappeared, his body simply fading away before her eyes, she felt herself twist into a thousand tiny strands that were spread throughout the entire planet. She plucked one and saw a market full of stalls and a few hives and pulled away from the strand, not recognizing the place as near her origin. She plucked another and saw the throne of Alternia’s ruler, a grimace briefly twisting her features as she remembered the First Guardian’s words on the future of Alternia thanks to the young female troll seated atop the golden throne. She released that strand but pulled the one near it and merged her body together once more, finding herself standing atop a massive tree that had a hive built around it.

Her origin point was near the tree, a bed of golden orange that bore the symbol on her robe. She stepped on it and sat in the center of the slab, folding her hands over her lap and settling herself for a meditative nap as she explored the new facets to her powers and sought a harmony with them she had never found before.


End file.
